Make-Up and Costume

Make-up and costume and two of the most important things in a film, especially if you are making a film in a diffrent era or a film with specific costume e.g. you couldn't have a warlock in Lord of the Rings come into battle with converse on!! Make-up and Costume are important and a film needs to get it right, for an example of a film I thought got it right is the Shawnshank Redemption.

The film is set in the 1947, so the charcters can't be wearing moden clothes of today. The film starts in 1947 and ends in about 1972, so the costume changes quite drmatically. (Picture left)This is the first scene in the fim, it is set in a court room so the dress is smart and casual. There is not much make-up needed in this scence or most of the film.

The camera then has a tracking shot over the people in the crowed(Picture Right). We can see from this the styles of the time. The hat adds a real feeling of being in the time it was set, as the audience watching the film doesn't have to think about it. Also again in this scence we see more of the casual smart suits.

Then, as the camera first goes to the prison we can see that everyone is wearing the same clothes, denim jacket, plain blue trousers and shirts. In the time denim was a cheap item of clothing, so for the prisoners to be wearing it is rather fitting. Also, denim was seen only worn by poor people or farmers, so again fits in being shown as a lower class wear.

So far, I have mostly shown costume but here is a part I thought used effective make-up. In this scence a man had been so badly beaten up he can never walk again. The make-up in this scence shows how badly he has been hit by his head covered in red blothches. Also in the film, when someone is getting beat up, blood appears were cuts have sprung up. When a nam is taking punches they might get blood out of there mouth or in the corner.

After already talking about the prisoners clothing, I noticed the police officers also have a cod of conduct. Here, the director again has taken the costume from the time. The police officers are almost in suits with belts around the middle. This was a sign of authority that they were important.

Overall, make-up and cotume are very important in a film. As the audience you don't really have to think about to much what people are wearing. The only time the audience can notice when costume is not right is when a mistake is made. I remember me and my friend oncen watched this film where a knight came into the shot on a horse with trainers on, then when you notice this mistakes you realise how directors must have to get it right and if they don't it won't make sense.

Leon

When I see a film like this I never really understand. Im one of those really annoyoing people who need someone there to explain it for them, but I really got this film and thought it was Brilliant!!!!

Props:

• The Plant: I'm fairly sure everyone shall mention this importnat object. At first to me i thought it was some kind of friend Leon had for had no real friend and relied on lookng after something. Then at the end of the film and you see her plating the it in the ground it makes you realise that it is a sign of being free from everything, when the plant was in the pot it had pressure to move around and could never fully stop moving around. Then when, at the end and she plants it in the ground, you have a sense that the danger is over and she cn finally settle down and grow like the plant.
• Milk: I dind't know really where to put this, and I think that the milk is a prop. I found it intersting how he always had to have that milk and how he taught Matilda that she needed to drink the milk in order to keep healthy and become a hitman. Also I think it was important for that is how he let her in. She went shopping to go and get the milk for him and she get back and her family is dead and he is there to taker her in.

Setting

• New York: I thought this was a good setting for this film. I really busy and over populated meant that it was easy to hide and that people would find it hard to look for you.
• "Littile Italy": I like the part at the begining where you went into the establishing shot by going into a sign saying "Littile Italy". I set the scence on where people might be from and gave more of an idea on where it was set in New York.

Lighting

• The lighting changed depending on what mood the scene was on. For exmaple the film starts off with leon getting his next task and there he is in a gloomy lit room and having a very important converstion with someone. In this shot is the single light bulb you see when people are talking business. Then the light changes when outside and you see a nomal everyday street like nothing is wrong.
• Also, the lighting is shown outside like a typical day in New York. Even though people are getting killed, there is a sense that it can happen anywhere.

Sound

• The music in the film is rather important and changes upon the mood. Music is mostly non-digetic but there is some secnes where it is diegetic.

Shots:

• POV: There are quite a few of POV shots in the film. A favorite of mine is at the begining where Leon is about to kill that man and just before he put a knife around his neck, there is a POV shot of him towards the man. I really like the building suspense of knowing what is going to happen at the same time as now knowing what is going to happen.

Overall, I thought this fiml was very good and I think it might of made my top 20 films!! Can't wait to watch more!!

Izzy =] =] =]